A Bath
by Ranguvar27
Summary: After a long, tiring day, Alannah is relaxing in the tub-and then Stayne comes home. Things heat up quite quickly. There's nothing like a nice hot bath.


A Bath

Alannah sighed languidly, sinking into the warm water of the bath, letting the warmth work out the kinks in her back and shoulders. She had been extremely busy all day, gathering herbs, chopping firewood-winter was coming, and Alannah wanted to have enough firewood to last a while-, and generally just running around with and after two very energetic children , and as a result she was completely worn out. Normally, Stayne would have taken on some of the more physical chores, but at the moment he was on Patrol-and Alannah had never shirked physical labor, no matter how hard it was. But she had gained a healthy appreciation for her husband's strength after she spent half the morning splitting firewood-something that she knew would only have taken him a few hours. When she had finished, she had been hot, sticky, and sweat had been pouring down her back-and it was a relatively cool day. Katarina and Michael had helped by carrying the wood and piling it beside the cottage.

After the wood was chopped, she spent a few hours mending the newest set of holes in the children's clothes, mentally thinking that it was time to request that Tarrant make them some new clothes. Alannah was able to mend and hem, but she lacked the talent needed to actually make new clothes, and Katarina and Michael were fast outgrowing their old clothes. She paused as a sudden thought struck her-Katarina would soon be ten. The thought made Alannah sniffle a bit.

Once all the chores were done-cottage cleaned, sheets turned, and dinner prepared, Alannah, Katarina, and Michael went herb gathering, or rather, Alannah gathered herbs while Katarina and Michael ran up and down the garden path chasing after the bread and butterflies and coming up to her every five minutes with 'a pretty flower for you, Momma.' By the time Alannah had replenished her stores, she had more flowers in her basket than she had herbs.

They had a very nice dinner-roast chicken with potatoes, and after Alannah sent the children to sleep with a song. Before Katarina fell asleep, she asked Alannah a question.

"Momma, does Daddy miss us when he's away? Because I miss him. Why does he have to go on patrol anyway?"

Alannah gently tucked a fly away strand of Katarina's hair behind her head, and nodded. "He misses us terribly, little bit. But he has to Patrol the land to make sure that there's nothing out there that can hurt any of us. He's a very brave soldier, and that's a part of his job. But he is always thinking of us, and he holds us in here…" she placed her hand on Katarina's heart, and Katarina sniffled.

"Does he ever get scared?"

Alannah nodded. "He does, and I am sometimes scared for him too. He goes to some strange places, and sometimes he can encounter strange people. But I'll tell you a secret-he's considered pretty scary by some."

"Why? He's not scary." Katarina looked at Alannah with open curiosity, and Alannah smiled at the simple honesty of her statement, and then sighed quietly.

"Well, not to us. But there have been people who were scared of him because of his eye, and because he's so very tall."

"Were you scared when you first saw him?"

Alannah chuckled quietly, shaking her head. "No, little one. I was most certainly not scared. Quite the opposite, in fact. Now, it's very late, and we have all had a busy day. Get some sleep, my inion." She softly kissed Katarina's forehead, and left the room, sighing in relief.

At last, the day was over, and she was hot, dirty, sweaty, and achy. She staggered over to her Potions cupboard, pulling down a vial filled with Lavender essence, then went into the bathroom and filled the tub with the buckets of water standing nearby; glad she had had the foresight to heat them over the fire during dinner.

She poured the lavender into the water, swirling the mixture around, then quickly stripped and climbed into the tub, sighing in almost orgasmic pleasure as her muscles began to unkink. She laid her head against the edge of the tub and shut her eyes, moaning in relief. So intent was she on the relief she was feeling that she failed to notice that she was no longer alone.

Stayne knelt down next to her, his gaze raking up and down her body. He reached out and gently stroked her face, and she opened her eyes and smiled at him in slight bewilderment.

"How long have you been there?"

He continued to stroke, speaking softly. "Just a few moments. I was giving my Patrol Report to Mirana." He reached into the tub and pulled out the washcloth, then gave her a serious look. "I'll get your back."

She sat up, and he moved so he was kneeling beside her and began to slowly wash her back, letting the cloth rove over her, and she sighed as he gently massaged her aching shoulders. Stayne gently kneaded her sore muscles, and she moaned in pleasure and relief, and then lay back. Stayne replaced the cloth, and smiled at her.

"You know, I could have chopped that wood when I came home. You didn't have to."

Alannah shook her head. "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. Winter's almost here, Ilosivic, and we need wood. Besides, I'm not exactly a weak damsel. I can manage chopping wood." She grinned wickedly. "However, there is one thing I like about you chopping wood."

Stayne grinned. "Really? And what might that be?"

Alannah smiled coyly at him. "You always take your shirt off, and I get to see those oh so lovely muscles of yours hard at work. Your sheer…strength is quite arousing, you know. Of course, just seeing you bare chested is enough to make my knickers melt."

Stayne gave her a devil grin and began to slowly unbutton his shirt. "I'm guessing you aren't wearing any knickers now, right? I wonder if perhaps I can make other…items…melt." He leaned forward, kissing her slowly and deeply, and Alannah felt a surge of heat between her legs. Stayne's right hand traveled downwards to rest on her center, and he looked down, then back up at her with an evil smirk of triumph. "Oh my. Alannah, I do believe you're wet. But that could just be bath water. I'll have to make sure."

He began to slowly caress her, his fingers stroking her soft folds, and Alannah shut her eyes and moaned in ecstasy. Stayne kissed her, and then slowly slid a finger inside her, curling slightly, and Alannah bucked, sending water splashing onto the floor. A second and third finger followed, and Stayne moaned in his throat as he caressed her clit, squeezing gently. He felt her walls begin to contract, and slowly increased his ministrations, making sure to touch every delectable inch of her. When she climaxed, she managed to hold back her scream of pleasure by kissing him until his head was spinning.

He slowly withdrew his fingers, bringing them to his mouth and slowly licking them clean. "Mmmm….very nicely melted, I'd say."

Alannah nodded, then gave him her own devil grin and crooked her finger at him. Stayne grinned, and quickly shed his clothes, then climbed into the tub with her, settling against her naked wet body with a groan of pleasure. The tub was a large one, well able to accommodate him, and the warmth of the water only served to heighten his arousal.

He kissed her, moaning quietly at the apple and spice taste that was so uniquely her. In all his life, he had never tasted anything so delicious and so incredibly intoxicating. He could gladly go his whole life and not taste anything else.

Alannah kissed him back, loving the taste of him. She had never been able to pin down exactly what it was, but then on the trip to Overland she had gone into a spice shop-and had smelled it-fiery, yet at the same time sweet. The store owner had informed her that the scent came from an Oriental spice known as cardamom, often used in cooking. Alannah had been tempted to snap some up, but it had been too expensive. She settled instead for tasting it every time her husband kissed her.

Stayne moved down to her throat, gently nipping, and she gasped his name. He kissed deeper, sucking hard, and Alannah's gasps turned into low cries of pleasure.

"Ohhhh….Time…Ohhhh…My Lord….You…are….so….bloody….talented. Ohhhh….that mouth and tongue of yours ….amazing."

Stayne chuckled darkly, swirling his tongue in a slow figure eight on her throat, and she growled in desire and ecstasy and bucked against him, then gave a mock cry of surprise and grinned in pretend shyness at him.

"Why, Ilosovic Stayne! I do believe you have an erection. Whatever can be done about it?"

Stayne gently licked her earlobe, and chuckled. "You know, I believe you may be right. And I believe I know exactly what to do." He slid his hands down her body and gently parted her legs, then slowly entered her, gasping her name as he slid deeper and deeper. Once he was buried inside her lovely warm wetness, he began to move inside her in a strong and steady rhythm.

"Oh…Alannah….Oh baby I love you so damn much…you're so damned beautiful….so sexual…so….sensual….my gorgeous girl….my lady love….You're mine, you've always been mine….my vixen…my wife…my salvation….MINE."

Alannah somehow managed to find some semblance of a voice. "Yes, Ilosovic-yours, all yours…my Knave, My Knight…I'm yours, baby-all yours. I love you, I love you…my beautiful man…my husband…My Lord…my soldier…my savior…I've always been yours…no one else's…**YOURS." **

Stayne felt his climax building and began to quietly moan her name, slowly becoming louder.

"Alannah….Oh….Oh Baby….Ohhhh…..ALANNAH!" He roared her name to the Heavens as he climaxed, and she followed moments later with her own cry of "ILOSOVIC!" As she felt her body tremble with multiple climaxes.

Stayne breathed deeply, and gently kissed her forehead. "That was…amazing. But I think the water's getting cold, so we best get out."

Alannah nodded reluctantly, and they climbed out of the tub. Stayne wrapped a towel around her, and pulled her into a soft kiss. "Go ahead and get in bed, sweetheart. I'll be along in a bit."

Alannah complied, and Stayne came in a few moments later, climbed into bed, and smiled at her. "I must say, that was quite a wonderful welcome home."

Alannah nodded, then pressed against him and fell asleep. Stayne sighed happily and fell asleep with the scent of apples, spice, and lavender drifting through his thoughts.


End file.
